Different setups or a single vision: Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton’s approach with Ferrari SF-25. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton are aligning their technical choices on the Ferrari SF-25.

The setup of the Ferrari SF-25 remains a small mystery: in which direction are Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton going, at the fifth round of the F1 world championship? Between the two, at the moment, there is a significant difference in terms of performance: the Monegasque is able to extract the maximum potential from the car, unlike the Briton, who is still searching for the “confidence” needed to perform at his best.

Jeddah is yet another Grand Prix with two sides for Ferrari. Between positives and negatives, the final standings are clear: Charles Leclerc secures third place, eight seconds behind the race leader, with a final stint of great value; Lewis Hamilton, for his part, does not go beyond seventh place. The seven-time world champion concedes as much as forty seconds to Oscar Piastri, which becomes thirty-one seconds to his teammate.

After Suzuka and Bahrain, much has been said about the technical choices within the walls of Maranello. Some suggest major divergences in the directions taken between the two garages, in search of an optimal setup for two different driving styles. In Saudi Arabia, however, it is #16 who denies these rumors: in reality, he says, the path taken by the team is only one, which favors the development of the car.

Different choices or convergence? The answer from Charles Leclerc
Speaking to journalists present in Jeddah, as reported by the Italian media, the Monegasque is clear: “Now there is more convergence [on our setup], especially after the last weekend. Recently, therefore, there has been convergence between us two. We are not going in two different directions, on the contrary, we are pushing in the same direction, and it is a good thing for the future to know that we need the same things.”

“The direction we have taken is new and extreme even for me,” Charles Leclerc continues. “It’s not something I have experienced with the car in the past. It is something new [both for me and for Lewis]. Then, it is true that I know the car better than he does, but it is still an extreme direction and new even for me.”

Whatever the choices of the two Ferrari drivers, it is clear that there is still a lot of work to be done. New updates are expected in the upcoming races, which should target the car’s critical issues. Time is the enemy: losing more points to McLaren could mean having to abandon any chance of winning the championship.